Sulayman ibn Sahman an-Najdi said: Allah (swt) said: ‘…in order that

mankind should have no plea against Allah after the Messengers…’ (an-
Nisa 4/165) So no one is excused for not believing in Allah, His Angels,
His Books, His Messengers and the Last Day. So he has no excuse of
ignorance after that. And Allah (swt) has informed (us) of the ignorance
of many of the disbelievers, while (at the same time) clearly stating their
disbelief.” (Kashf ash-Shubhatayn, 91-92)

Ibn Qayyim said: “The one who has the opportunity of learning the
orders and the restrictions of Allah (swt) but does not learn will be
counted among those who had established the hujjah.” (Madariju’s-
Salikin, 1/239)

“If (We had) not (sent thee to the Quraish),- in case a calamity should
seize them for (the deeds) that their hands have sent forth, they might
say: "Our Lord! why didst Thou not sent us a messenger? We should
then have followed Thy Signs and been amongst those who believe!"
(Al-Qasas 28/ 47)

Baghawi states: “In case a calamity should seize them” meaning when it
seizes them as a consequence and punishment. “For (the deeds) that
their hands have sent forth” meaning the things they did like kufr and
evil. If they were not to say: "Our Lord! why didst Thou not sent us a
messenger? We should then have followed Thy Signs and been amongst
those who believe.” The answer to the lawla (if) particle is mahzuf
(indirect). And it is as such: We would have made their consequence
sooner. In summary if they hadn’t set forth the excuse of an envoy not
being sent We would have punished them sooner due to their kufr. The
meaning of this had also said to be: We would not have sent you as an
envoy to them. However again We sent you so people would not have
any excuse left in front of Allah after the envoys had been sent.”

After Abu Butayn related the following from Ibn Taymiyyah “whoever
performs the action of shirk with no doubt is mushrik. He will be
invited to repent. If he has repented it is great, if not he will be killed” he
said: “With no doubt Imam Ibn Taymiyyah in many places has clarifed
that an individual who performs any action of shirk will be given the
hukm of takfr. Although he had narrated from the ijma of the Muslim
he had not distinguished the ignorant etc. Allah stated “Allah forgiveth
not (the sin of) joining other gods with Him; but He forgiveth whom He
pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with Allah, Hath
strayed far, far away (from the right).” (An-Nisa 4/116) Allah also with
the expression of Masih states: “…Whoever joins other gods with Allah,
Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There
will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.” (Al-Maeda 5/72) Now
whoever claims this avoidance to be particular to only the stubborn
(muannid) individuals and excludes the ignorant, the misinterpreters
and the imitators (muqallid) with no doubt will have opposed Allah
(swt) and RasulAllah (saw) and he will have separated from the path of
the Muminoon. Moreover in the books of the fuqaha, the section of ‘the
hukm of the murtad’ commences with the following: “Whoever
performs the action of shirk to Allah… and they never limit it with the
muannid. In reality this is an open matter. Alhamdulillah.” (Abu
Butayn, Al-Shaykh Abdullah ibn Abdurrahman, Al Intisar li Hizb’ il
Muwahhidun warRad ala’l Mujadil an’ il-Mushrikeen, 27, Aqidat ul-
Muwahhideen wa'r-red ala’d-Dullul wal Mubtedeen)

Narrating from Muhammad b. Nasir al Marwazi, Ibn Taymiyyah stated:

“‘Ilm concerning Allah means iman, and ignorance concerning Allah
means kufr. As such, knowledge regarding fard is iman; however
ignorance prior to the commandment of the fard does not mean kufr.
The reason behind this is that when Allah frst sent RasulAllah (saw) to
the ashab they confessed their iman however after this they did not
know the commanded fard. Even so their ignorance of that, to be
commanded fard was not kufr. Afterwards Allah sent them the fard.
Their confession of these fard and performance of these fard became
iman. Nevertheless those who rejected them became kafr for declaring
the news from Allah to be untrue. If news from Allah had not come,
being ignorant of this would not make one kafr. In the same sense after
the arrival of the news if from among the Muslim there was some who
did not hear of it, this ignorance would also not make one kafr.
However ignorance regarding Allah is kufr, either before the arrival of
the news or after.” (Fatawa, 7/325)

According to an explanation by the author of Badai’us Sanai, Abu Yusuf

narrated from Abu Hanifah: “Abu Hanifah stated: No servant (‘abd) has
an excuse regarding knowledge of his Rabb due to ignorance. All
creatures must know their Rabb and make tawhid. The reason for this is
that they see the created sky, the creation of themselves and all things
Allah created. When it comes to the fard; regarding those who do not
know them and related news had not reached them, means that
evidence had not been stable as hukm (ie. an ayah had not been
revealed yet, or a hadith had not been stated yet etc.).” (Badai’us Sanai
7/132)

Ibn Taymiyyah stated: “When mentioning Hud (as) He notifes what

had been said to his tribe: “… ye do nothing but invent!” (Hud 11/50)
Before passing hukm of them with what they had opposed him with, he
characterized them as slanderers. The reason for this was because they
had taken on other deities besides Allah. Without doubt the attribute of
mushrik had been fxed before risalah. Before such risalah they had been
making shirk against their Rabb, they had been associating partners to
Allah and they had taken on other deities and other nidds. (*Nidds are
things which represent that which is loved more than Allah; things which are
made into measures. For a thing to be a nidd it does not have to be a special
existence.) This shows that these attributes have been fxed before
risalah. Just like the names jahl and jahiliyyah. Likewise before the
arrival of RasulAllah the era had been called jahiliyyah and those
affliated as jahl.” (Fatawa, 20/37)

“When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their
loins - their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves,
(saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?"- They
said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of
Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful": Or lest ye should say: "Our
fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their)
descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds
of men who were futile?" Thus do We explain the signs in detail; and
perchance they may turn (unto Us). (Al-Araf 07/172-174)

Tabari explains this ayah in the following manner: “Our almighty Rabb
states: “We made you witness” those who state Allah is their Rabb. The
purpose is so that you would not say you did not know on the Day of
Judgment. And so you would not say Without doubt we did not know
this. We had been not aware of this. Or without doubt our ancestors had
performed shirk and we are a generation which came after them…
With an ignorance originating from our ignorance we had followed
their path.” (Tabari, 2/713)

Ibn Qayyim states: "And made them testify concerning themselves,

“(saying): "Am I not your Lord” This means they must state His
rububiyyah. An acknowledgement as such that it will be evidence
against themselves. Without doubt this statement is such that it will
have been brought to them by the tongues of the Rasul. Like in the
following ayah: “Their messengers said: "Is there a doubt about Allah,
The Creator of the heavens and the earth?” (Ibrahim 14/10) “If thou ask
them, who it is that created the heavens and the earth. They will
certainly say, "Allah".” (Luqman 31/25) “Say: "To whom belong the
earth and all beings therein? (say) if ye know!" They will say, "To
Allah!"” (Al-Mumenoon 23/ 84-85)
There are many similar ayahs in the Qur’an. In these ayahs proof has
been provided against them that they had been created with a ftrah that
they would acknowledge their rabb and creator, also with this
opportunity they are invited to do ibadaah only to Allah without any
shirk. In reality this is a method particular to the Qur’an. One of these is
the statement of Allah in surah Araf: “When thy Lord drew forth…lest
you should say on the day of judgment of this we were never mindful.”
Here a conclusion has been drawn with their statements against them
regarding their shirk in rububiyyah and ibadaah to another. This way it
has been requested that they do not present an excuse of not knowing or
of imitating batil. The reason for this is because there are two principals
of deviation: 1- either not knowing haq 2- or either imitating the
deviators.” (Ahkamu Ahl dhimma 2/527)

“Whoever bears witness that there is no other worthy of worship but

Allah” meaning whoever utters and acts upon it knowing its meaning in
batin and in zahir. Likewise the following ayah points to this also
“Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah” (Muhammad 47/19)
and “only he who bears witness to the Truth, and they know (him).”
(az-Zukhruf 43/86)
However without knowing its meaning and acting upon what it
necessitates there is ijma that the sole utterance will not be benefcial.
The hadith proves this also: “he who bears witness” (az-Zukhruf 43/86)
How can one make shahadah of that which he does not know? Let alone
mentioning something does not make bearing witness (shahadah) to it.
(Taysiru'l Aziz Hamid Sharh’u Kitabu't-Tawhid 53)